“I will tell them if you two aren’t willing,” the voice spoke again. This time Bertram was able to see it was Kiki who was speaking. Kiki began to move forward, passing through the shadows, and emerging as an old, white haired man with long flowing black robes. He stood close to the fire, the light of the flames dancing across his aged but soften face. The man held his hands down at his side with his palms open towards Bertram, to show he had Continue reading →

The children traveled quickly through the tunnel, with barely a word spoken between them. Bertram was guiding them with the confidence of traveling the tunnel twice a day for nearly his whole life. The others were not as fortunate and though the torches still kept most of the darkness at bay, they stumbled along as if unsure of their footing. Bertram noticed only the twins seemed to be keeping up. Everyone else seemed slightly stunned, as if after everything else that had happened today, traveling Continue reading →

“Round up the others, we’ll meet you at the tunnel entrance.” While Manfred continued to stare in shock at Bertram, Hartwin was already planning their next move. True, Bertram had surprised him when he launched those javelins through the air and killed a man, but now wasn’t the time or place to reflect on the rapidly changing circumstances of their lives. He was rather relieved at Bertram’s actions, not only for his effective determent of those soldiers, but that he was acting with a weight Continue reading →

I meant to share these earlier, right after the holidays, but ended up getting distracted. Probably because I didn’t have any reason to use my camera until today (for reasons that will be shared later), so I had forgotten I had even taken pictures of these. Behold, Helen’s hand warmers! She had decided she wanted to make something to give as gifts this past holiday season, and these little microwaveable hand warmers seemed about perfect. She even added in a monogram on the one she Continue reading →

“You will explain yourself to me if you want that horse,” Hermann continued as he was now within a few feet of the rider. Slowly the rider gave up shoving with the night guard to turn around and see it was someone of authority now speaking to him. He huffed disappointingly, but understood he was wasting precious time with all the arguing. He took a step to get closer to Hermann, then began talking in a low tone so that only Hermann could hear him, Continue reading →

Hermann couldn’t believe how his world had been flipped around so easily within a single day. Alexis was dead because Gernot demanded it so. All these years, Gernot wasn’t reflecting with Hermann on the loss of someone close to them, he was silently contemplating if Alexis would stay gone so he could be king. Hermann wondered if Alexis had ever come to Tambers. How close had they been to seeing each other, only to avoid knowledge of the other altogether. Or had Alexis known about Continue reading →

Hermann Ward stared blankly at his half empty flask. He was alone in the officer’s tent, drinking alone, and feeling alone. Even his drink had no presence for it was the swill that was normally provided to prisoners: a lowly, tasteless liquid that barely satisfied his thirst. However, that was all there was left to drink in the fort that night. He had the king and his men to thank for that. On any other occasion, Hermann wouldn’t have minded. Mainly because he wouldn’t be Continue reading →

As the other boys began to worry over Bertram and his intense fixation on his fist, they heard the sound of men coming towards the road. Acting reflexively, Hartwin reached over Alexis to pry the sword from his hand while simultaneously signaling for the others to get behind him. The twins began to race for the house where Ursula and Angelica were already inside as Manfred lifted Bertram to his feet. The three of them began to make out two men on horses, slowly trotting Continue reading →

Behind him, Bertram could hear his friends begin to shout frantically for their parents, or for anyone. Their pleas were left unanswered, each one ringing out into the deserted town like a pebble thrown into a lake. The sounds of their shouting cascaded over Bertram, who was unable to produce a single motion or emotion. He sat in the road on his knees, memorizing the last moment of his father’s life: his mouth was half smiling, his eyes wide with excitement. His trusted sword, still Continue reading →